Handling system for boardlike articles



April 20, 1954 T. r. YOUNGFELT 2,575,929

HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Filed June 28, 1946 9 Sheets-Sheet l April 20, 1954 T. T. YOUNGFELT 2,675,929

HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Filed June 28, 1946 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 0, 1954 T. T. YOUNGFELT 2,675,929

HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Filed June 28, 1946 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 20, 1954 r. T. YOUNGFELT HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 28, 1946 April 20, 1954 'r. T. YOUNGFELT I 2,575,929

' HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Filed June 28, 1946 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 T. T. YOUNGFELT HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Filed June 28, 1946 April 20, 1954 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 April 1954 T. 'r. YOUNGFELT 2,575,929 HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Filed June 28, 1946 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 April 20, 1954 T. T. YQUNGFELT HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Fil ed .June 28, 1946 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Fa Iv y April 20, 1954 T. r. YOUNGFELT HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Filed June 28, 1946 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Patented Apr. 20, 1954 HANDLING SYSTEM FOR BOARDLIKE ARTICLES Thomas T. Youngfelt, Evanston, Ill., assignor to United States Gypsum Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application June 28, 1946, SerialNo. 680,023

9 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a handling system for board-like articles, especially such as are more or less continuously being discharged from a board-treating instrumentality, as, for example, a drier.

More particularly the invention relates to that type of handling apparatus which will receive a plurality of boards from several superposed levels, will transfer them to a single level, advance them thereon, and eventually stack the boards in a preferred form of arrangement, and then transfer the stack to a point of delivery.

The invention is of particular applicability to the stacking of gypsum boards, commonly known as gypsum wallboards and gypsum lath, which are usually offered to the public in the form of a stack containing a definite number of boards which may, additionally, be suitably fastened together either by being wrapped in paper or held together by means of paper strips or various clamping devices such as suitably shaped clips and the like. Particularly when using the latter system, and where wrapping is not provided, it is advisable to form the stacks with the unpreferred sides of the boards outwardly directed and hence exposed, while the preferred sides, 1. e.'

the ones which are to be presented to the inside of the room in which the boards or'laths are to be used, are kept unexposed in the stack, and hence protected from injury and from becoming soiled or marred.

In the continuous production of such boards, it has become more or less standard practice to pass them through a multiple-deck drier; this being true of ypsum-core boards as well as of boards made entirely from wood-pulp, ground wood, and the like. The invention, however, is not limited to the handling of these types of boards, but is considered as being generically directed to the handling of any sufficiently rigid board-like objects or articles which will lend themselves to translatory movement upon rollers, belts or similar conveyors, and which may be turned completely over from their obverse to their reverse sides without buckling or deformation.

Accordingly it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a handling system comprising various operatively associated and combined instrumentalities, which by their'conjoint operations effect the transfer of boards and the like from the decks of a multiple-deck treating instrumentality to a single level, and then stack the boards so that none of the preferred sides will be exposed either at the top or bottom of the resulting stack.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which will safely, and without injury to the boards transfer them from a plurality of superposed levels to a single level, irrespective as to whether said final single level is below or above the superposed levels.

Still afurther object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for selectively accelerating the speed of travel of one or more of a number of boards being transported on substantially the same level, so as to arrange said boards in an echelon, that is with the boards in progressively advanced relation one to the other.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for completely turning over one of a plurality of boards, to deposit this upon a receiving element, and then to deposit thereupon further boards in their unreversed position, to eventuate a suitable stack having the desired orientation of boards therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide a suitable combination of various transporting, accelerating and reversing means to practice a method in which boards received from a multipledeck drier or the like are first caused to become deposited upon a single layer conveyor; their respective speeds of travel modified so as to accelerate that of selected boards; then either turned over or-not, as desired, stacked into a stack of desired orientation; and the stack conveyed to a desired point of delivery.

Still further objects of the invention will become apparent from the further description and claims hereinbelow set forth when considered in connection with the hereunto appended drawings, in which: 5

Figs. 1 and la, taken together constitute a complete top plan view, partially broken away, of the complete handling system showing the arrangement of the various individual portions thereof;

Fig.2 is a top plan view, on a somewhat enlarged scale, of the portion of the apparatus designed for transferring board-like articles from the various decks of a board treating instrumentality to a single level;

- Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view, on a somewhat enlarged scale, of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1a, by means of which the speed of travel of the boards is accelerated and certain of the boards turned over, and'the stack produced; a

Fig.- 5 is a sideelevational view of of the apparatus shownin Fig-.4;

that portion Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, also on a somewhat enlarged scale, of the portion of the apparatus that turns over and stacks the boards, taken on line $6 of Fig. "I.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 6, showing the boards as they are being turned over and stacked, taken on line 1-4 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. "I, but with a stack of boards already accumulated and in process of being further moved.

Considering Figs. 1 and la together, they show a conveyor system which starts at the right hand side of Fig. 1 and closely adjoins the cooling section of a board-treating instrumentality, for. in-. stance a kiln or drier, here broadly designated by the reference character A. Immediately adjoining this to the left is a separating section, broadly designated as B, this being immediately adjoined on the left by a set of board-removing means such as take-off rolls broadly designated as C, which feed boards into the main cascading conveyor section D, from. whence the boards are transferred to a horizontal conveyor system, three rollers of which, broadly designated as E, being seen at the extreme left hand end of Fig. 1, and being continued at the extreme right hand side of Fig. la, therein being designated by the same reference character E.

There then follows (Fig. la) a side take-offsection F which is followed by a short further conveyor. section G, to the left of which there is broadly shown, and characterized by the reference character H, a set of aligned accelerating conveyors by means of which boards may be arranged in echelon fashion. Adjoining the accelerating section H there is a row of three pinch take-off rolls I, which feed boards to a boardturning and transporting mechanism broadly designated as J, in which some of the boards are turned over, and the boards formed into a stack, which is then conveyed to a delivery section consisting of a set of rollers K which feed the resultirrg stack to a further device L which is em, ployed for the purpose of breaking the boards transversely into sections, but which latter forms no partof the present invention, being illustrated merely to show the general orientation of the. device relative to the board-treating instrumen-,

talities at the point of their final disposition.

These various sections are designated broadly by similar lettering upon the other figures.

Suitable boards, which may b gypsum wall? boards, gypsum lath, or fibrous boards, and which have been treated inthe board treating instrumentality A, for example a drier, leave the I drier by means of the downwardly inclined horizontally or sometimes upwardly inclined takeoif section B, which consists of a plurality of super-posed decksof roller conveyors l5, l6, l1, l8, i9, 2!), 2i and 22, the end of'each of which is, respectively, in direct alignment with the cascade decksli, 6, I, 8, 9,10, ll and I2, upon which the saidbcardsv roll with somewhat greater speed than they have rolled in the drier A and on sections [-22. One set of positively driven takeoff rolls l3 and M (similar rolls being associated with each deck, but for sake of simplicity not numbered herein and broadly designated by the reference character C) are operated byv means of individual driving means 23, which preferably are motors provided with suitable reducing gears and which actuate the rolls 13 by means either of beltsor chains. These rolls l3 and l4, actuated by the prime movers 23, maybe under the control of an operator so that by actuating any of a set of suitable switches or push buttons he can either start or stop a particular prime mover 23 so as to place boards upon any one of the decks 5 through l2, depending upon the exigencies of the particular situation. For instance, if he desires to transfer a board from the conveyor [8 to the cascade deck 3, he will actuate the prime mover 23 fourth from the top; if he wishes to pull a board from the lowermost conveyor 22 on to the cascade deck l2, he will actuate the lowermost prime mover 23. The two rolls 5?; and Hi are driven at the same speed through the intermediation of the secondary belts or chains 25 (see Fig. 2). In order that the boards which have passed rolls i3 and i i may continue to advance, the decks 5 through E? are each provided with a plurality of driven rollers 26. The number of rollers 25 on each of the particular decks 5 through [2 differs depending upon the length thereof. Each of these rollers 2% is given positive rotational movement which is imparted thereto by means of the prime mover 21 which may be a suitable motor with its associated reducing gear, and which actuates the lowermost drive roller 23 through the intermediation of a chain or belt 29.

From the main drive roller 28 there extends a belt 33 which drives the first of the smaller conveyor rollers 25, the latter being operatively connected with one another by a series of belts or chains 3!, best seen in Fig. 2.

The rotation of these rollers 25 is therefore, when considered in connection with Fig. 3, in a counter-clockwise direction, as a result of which the rollers 25 will have a tendency to convey the boards toward the left. As the boards progress, for instance, along the uppermost deck or conveyor 5, they will soon reach the end thereof, and hence drop downwardly, or as applicant prefers to term it, cascade, onto the next lower conveyor 6, thence to conveyors l, 8 and 9, finally arriving on an extension of the lowermost conveyor i2,which extension terminates in the general horizontal conveyor section which can only be fully seen in Fig. la, except that the immediate beginning thereof is shown at the extreme left end of Figs. 2 and 3.

It will be noticed that the conveyors, beginning with conveyor No. 6, are progressively less inclined and by the time conveyor ll'o. i2 is reached the same is only very slightly inclined. Conveyor No. 9 is substantially horizontal while conveyors Nos. It and ii are slightly upwardly inclined, but not as much as conveyor No. i2. It will readily be apparent thatany board which is rolling along on conveyor No. 9 will drop almost immediately on to the end of conveyor i2 and hence on to the horizontal conveyor section E, details of which will be hereinafter more fully described. The lowermost conveyor 52 has an upwardly inclined portion 32 in which the rollers 28 are surmounted by a plurality of endless conveying belts 33, which at one terminal pass over the pulley A suitable tensioning device 35 is shown as consisting of a suitably pivoted lever 35, weight pulley 38 and smallerpulleys 39 and dim, by means of which each of the belts is "Kept under adequate tension. As the board arrives, at the beginning of the belts 33 of the conveyor 22, it will be picked up by said belts 33 and carried upwardly until it reaches the horizontal conveyor section E, after which it will progressthrough or. along the various instrumentalitiesuntil it reaches the station L a bove referred to.

The apparatu is-preferably so operated: that the individual boards will arrive upon conveyor section E substantially abreast of each other. As shown in the figures, and merely forpurposes of exemplification, however, three boards are to be considered as traveling more or less simultaneous 1y upon the conveyor section E. In order to accomplish this, therefore, an operator must be stationed at the points C or B where he can control the discharge of boards from the various decks of the drier A, for the purpose of obtaining a more or less constant flow of boards on the conveyor section E shown in Fig. 1a. The conveyor section E consists of a plurality of driven rollers 40 which are driven in such a direction that they willtransport boards lying thereon in the direction ofthe arrow (to the left) of Fig. 1a. To accomplish the desired rotation there is provided a belt 4| which underlies the rollers 40 and is suitably kept in contact therewith, the details of this construction being best seen in Figs. 4 and 5.

The said belt 4| is actuated by means of a pulley 4'2 being keyed on to shaft 43 which is driven through a series of chains or belts 44 by a prime mover and belt 52 (see Fig. 5), whose construction is to all intents and purposes similar to motor 21 shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

At F there are shown (in Fig. 1a) a series of transversely operable belt 50 which serve, if desired, to remove boards at this point of the apparatus, if it is not desired to have them pass through the further instrumentalities G through L. The construction of these belts, however, and the apparatus therewith connected, are entirely outside of the scope of the present invention. Sufiice it to say that the belts 50 are so arranged that they may be elevated at desired times so as to lie above the level of the rollers 4|! with the result that the belts'will contact the boards and move them off the conveyor section F.

The section G has the same function and is of the same nature as the section E, and the two sections may be considered as constituting a single horizontal positively driven conveyor section.

Inasmuch as it is desired to turn certain of the boards over, this is accomplished in sections H, I and J. Section H consists of a plurality of smaller individual rollers 60, BI and 62 v(see Figs. 1a, 4 and 5), which are also driven from motor 5| and belt 52. The belts or chains 44 and 46 are so proportioned that in operation the board which lies on the rollers 60 will be speeded up relatively to the board traveling on the rollers 6|, While the board on the rollers 62 will move still more slowly. Sets of positively driven pinch-rolls 1|], 1|, and 12, beneath Which smaller rollers 16 (see Fig. 5) are arranged, with a spacing therebetween just about equal to the thickness of the boards, serve positively to push the boards out on to angle-iron supports 13, 14 and which it will be noticed (see Fig. 7) are so arranged that they will support the 4 boards at a point which is to one side of the center of gravity of the boards, support 13 being to the left of the center of gravity of board In fed thereto, and supports 14 and 15 being to the right of the center of gravity ofboards b2 and b3, respectively, fed thereto. I

Considering that the boards are substantially the length of the section J, the boards cannot drop oif the supports '|3'|5 until they have completely cleared the rollers Hi-12, respectively. Immediately they have done so, however, theirfree unsupported longitudinal edges will drop onto flexible guide fingers 13, 14' and 75' carried by the supports 13, 14 and 15, respectively. (In

6 the cas of the board which has been supported by the support 13, and which has just cleared the roller 10, the right hand edge thereof will be guide ed by fingers 13' to engagement with the belts 82 which will carry said edge to the left, thereby causing the board to be completely turned over and then conveyed to and dropped into a receiving mechanism which comprises a receiving pan 86 (see Fig. 7). The left hand edges of the boards falling from thesupports 14 and 15 will also encounter the belts 82 which pull the boards completely off the supports so that the previously supported edges of said boards will now also drop and the boards will fall upon belts 82 which transport them to the left (see Fig. 7) until theyfall on top of the first board, which has been completely turned over. By means of a suitable thruster I00, the belts 82 are brought into contact with the stack and mov it to the left (see Fig. 8) and place the entire stack upon the conveyor section K (see Fig. 4) which is provided with a plurality of free rollers 90. The pan is made in four sections, as seen in Fig. 4, in order to provide spaces between the sections for the belts 82.

as this point the stack may be pushed to the right until it arrives on section L (see Fig. 1a), where the boards may be given any desired treatment or removed for shipping.

The boards handled by the apparatus of the present invention are usually paper covered and have a desired or preferred surface and an undesired or unpreferred surface. In making up bundles of such boards, particularly where metallic clamping means are employed, such clamping or securing means engage only with the edge portions of the stack of boards, leaving the outside surfaces of the top and bottom boards exposed. Such surfaces may be easily marred in shipment and handling of the bundle, and therefore should not be the sides of the boards which are exposed when the boards are put to use. In order that the preferred sides of the boards shall not be injured during the manufacture thereof,

the board manufacturing apparatus and the drier A are so designed and operated that the boards issue from the drier with the preferred side down and the unpreferred side up. This is advantageous as it will avoid marring the preferred side as by grease, dirt or other things dropping on to the boards as they progress through the apparatus. However, by completely turning over the first board, the side which had been the bottom or preferred side now lies uppermost, therefore having the unpreferred side facing down. Other boards may then be piled on top thereof to form a stack of, say, three boards, although in actual practice it has been found advantageous to build up a stack of six boards.

With the apparatus constructed as herein shown, the fourth board of the stack will also be turned over, while the fifth and sixth boards will not be turned over. It is customary to build up a stack of six boards, as this makes a bundle which is not too heavy for convenient handling. However, a stack of any desired number of boardscan be built up by a machine constructed in accordance with the present teachings.

A more detailed disclosure of the portions of the device shown broadly in Fig. la is to be found in Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7. and 8.

Referring first to the instruinentality broadly designated as H, and which for the sake of conveniencewill be referred to as the accelerating section,".this comprises the already mentioned rollers 40 and the belt 4| which is actuated by the motion. of the pulley 42. This. belt 4i isso driven that it will underlie the rollers 40 being pressed thereagainst by secondary rollers 53. The belt 4| moves with the upper side traveling to the right as a result of which, of course, the rollers 40 will be operated in a counter-clockwise direction, thereby advancing the board to the left, as indicated generally by the arrow in Figs. 4 and.5. For the sake of simplicity, no boards are here shown on the machine.

The accelerating section H can be more clearly seen in. Figs. 4 and 5, wherein the chains 44 and 46 are illustrated on a somewhat larger scale. The rollers 60, GI and 62 are respectively arranged to travel at different speeds, rollers 50 traveling the fastest, rollers 6| at an intermediate speed, and rollers 62 at the slow speed. This therefore will bring boards which are advancing on the rollers 60 first to the pinch-roller 10 by means of which the board, in cooperation with the underlying smaller roller It, is pushed out on to the support 13, and the second board traveling on rollers El will next encounter pinchroller H and the corresponding underlying roller and will be pushed out on to the support M; while the third board traveling on rollers 62 will then be pushed out by means of pinch-roller l2 and underlying cooperating roller on to the support 15.

The turning over of the boards, as accomplished insection J, comprises, in further detail, the following instrumentalities and operations.

After the boards leave the respective pinch rollers 10, H and 12, they will be pushed out on to the angle-iron supports l3, l4 and i5. It will be noticed that these supports are the full length of the boards, but that they are not aligned with the center of the respective rollers 10, TI, and '12, but are displaced to one side, the support 13 being displaced to the greatest extent.

The boards are therefore supported on .these supports and at the same time are kept from falling from the supports by the engagement of the boards with the rollers It, 1| and 12. However, the moment that the board is released by, for instance, the pinch roller 10, it will fall with its right hand edge downwardly (see Fig. '7) the edge being engaged by the belts 82 which effect complete overturning of the board so that when it is delivered to pan 89 it will be in a position with its face up. Similarly, the board riding on support 14 will drop therefrom after the end of the board has left the pinch roller H, and the board riding on support 15 will drop when it has passed through and has been released by pinch roller 12'; but this board will not turn over.

The operation which then follows can best be understood from a consideration of Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8. As best seen in Fig. 7, the boards marked respectively b1, b2, be are shown first in full lines in the position in which they are arriving on the angle-iron supports '53, 1d and 15, it beingof course understood that board in arrives at the end of. the support first, in second, and b3 third. The boards are shown in dotted line position as they are falling from the supports; board bl being delivered by belts 82 to the pan St in reversed position, that is with its unpreferred side facing downwardly in the pan. The second board, b2, falling from the support it, will en counter with its left hand edge the moving belts 82. These belts pass respectively over pulleys 8% then around pulleys 9i and travel along aplane underneath the pan 80 on a numberof supporting rollers H18, thence passing oversdriven rollers 82. at. the extreme left end of their travel, then returning in a downwardly direction and to the right, eventually passing over: pulleys 93 and 94, and then over pulleys. 95. These. belts will therefore tend to pull the left hand edge (as seen in Fig. 7) of board In toward the left so that the board will fall fiat on to the belts 82 with the unpreferred side uppermost and therefore with its face (so marked on Fig. 7) down. By reason of the travel of the belts 82 the board will be pushed out until it will fall into the pan 80. A stop I05, hinged. at I06, is provided at the left hand side of the pan for the purpose of limiting the travel of the board propelled into the pan by the belts 82. The result will therefore be the deposition of board 132 with its face against the face of the board In which by that time will be lying in the pan 80. Shortly thereafter, board D3 will likewise fall on to the belts 82 in a manner entirely similar to that of b2 and hence will be deposited face down on top of board he in the pan 80. The next board which then arrives will also be a board In which will then be deposited face up on the three boards already in the pan to be followed by a second set of boards b2 and in which will be deposited, of course, face downwardly. There will thus be an accumulation of six boards in the pan Bil, the bottom one being with its reverse side against the bottom of the pan and the top one with its reverse side upwardly. This, therefore, eventuates a bundle which can be handled without damage to the preferred faces of the boards. A suitable stop 53% keeps the boards from sliding rearwardly out of the pan '30. As can best be seen in Fig. 4, the pan 80, as before mentioned, is made up of four laterally spaced sections, the two outer ones being somewhat wider than the others. This sectional construction is necessary in order to allow the belts 32 to be brought upwardly into engagement with the bottom of the stack when it is desired to transport the same out of the pan 853. Only the two outside pan sections are provided with the hinged stops Hi5.

Those portions of belts 82 which underlie the pan 80 and extend some distance to the left thereof, are supported by a plurality of freely rotating rollers I08 which are carried by suitable shafts that are mounted in beams liJ'i. The latter are pivotally supported at H l.

Each of the belts 82 (as seen in Fig. 7) is kept taut by reason of the relationship of the pulleys 93 and 94, over which it passes, the latter pulley being carried by an arm i l5 pivotally mounted at one end on the shaft i It, the free end of the arm being provided with a weight 1 is.

The stops I05 on the pan 89 are capable of being pulled downwardly by means of the links [69 which are pivoted to arms H8 which are keyed to the shaft 8! which also carries arms 83 which are connected, by means of the links 84, to the right handor free ends of the beams lll'Lso that the said beams, together with the rollers let thereon and the thereby supported a, belts 82, may be pushed upwardly into the spaces between the sections of pan 88 for the purpose of engaging the bottom of the stack of boards accumulated in the pan. This changed position is best seen in Fig. 8, in which the beams it? with their rollers I08 thereon are shown in their uppermost position, whereby the belts 82 have now engaged the bottom of' the stack of boards, and the arms 83 have been moved to their uppermost positions. The shaftBl'has' made a partial rotation to the left, and has therefore rocked the arms H downwardly, which in turn have appended claims, in which the inventor claims as pulled down links I09, thereby swinging stops H15 his invention:

downwardly so that the latter now completely 1. A handling system for board-like articles clear the adjacent edge of the stack of boards. comprising a series of cascading superposed roller Accordingly, the stack of boards can now travel 5 conveyors for receiving said articles from a pluon the belts 82 in the direction of the arrow, and rality of superposed levels and conveying them eventually become deposited upon the set of to a single level; a conveyor at said level for contransverse rollers 90. At the same time the arms veying said articles in horizontally aligned posi- 5 with th ir tt hed weights 9. ill have tion; means on said latter conveyor for selectivemoved into their uppermost positions, to accomy accelerating he travel of On or more Of Said modate the belts 32 and, keep th m t t, articles relative to each other; means fed by Once the stack of boards has been delivered Said latter Conveyor pp and reversing upon the rollers 90, the shaft 8| is rotated to the one of said articles d f r superimposing at ri ht, so th t th various parts 111 reassume t least two other of said articles directly upon said positions shown in Fig 7 l5 reversed article to produce a stack thereof; and The means for actuating the shaft 8| comprise a conveyor COW/Wing d stack to a Point a thruster I00 which can best be seen at the exof delivery treme left of Figs. 4 and 5. This thruster may A handling System for board-like r le be either pneumatically or electrically operated, comprising a series of oeseedins superposed r l r d may, for examme, he an air cyhhder or a 0 conveyors for selectively receiving said articles solenoid, the entire object of the thruster being from a plurality of p rposed level in which t effect t movement of t haft 8| to the said articles are individually supported and'conextent indicated, this being accomplished by havveying them to e single level; a conveyor at said ing t t t attached t a rocker arm o level for conveying said articles in horizontally which is keyed to the sh ft 3|, and the free end aligned position in a single plane; means on said of said arm being tt to the reciprocating latter conveyor for selectively accelerating the rod 2 of the thruster. The operation of the travel of said articles relatively to another; means fed by said latter conveyor for dropping and for honed near the end of the machine, and in n stacking said articles upon each other to produce sight f its operation. a stack thereof; and a conveyor for trans- The belts 82 are operated by positively driving ferrmg sald Stack to anoint of deliver? pulleys 92 which are keyed to a shaft I03, which A handling y tem adapted to receive, conshaft is actuated through a Suitable chain or vey and stack board-like articles from a-multlple belt ")4 (Fig 4) f a prime mover Such as deck board-treating instrumentality which coma motor '05 The belts however are comm, prises a series of cascading conveyors for selecuoush, in operation, and f course when the tively transferring boards from the decks of said Vice is in the position Shown in Fig serve the instrumentality to a substantially horizontal confunction of receiving and transporting the boards Veyor on which saiderticles e abreast in a sinb2 and b3 f lli from the Supports 14 and 15 gle plane; accelerating means aligned with said while When they are not receiving these boards 40 horizontal conveyor for selectively accelerating they perform the function of transporting the the travel of at least one of said articles relativestack to the rollers 90.

1y to each other; dropping and reversing means The entire method of procedure therefore comfor turnmg over at least One of m articles and prises receiving a plurality of boards from the stackmg the other, of Said armies on top of superposed decks of, for instance a board drier, 4 said turned over article to eventuate a stack conveying the boards over individual cascading thereof? a conveyor for transferrmg Sald conveyors to a single conveyor, then accelerating Stack to pomt of dehverythe speed of travel of selected boards so that they A "t apparatus fOr tljanfierrmg may be arranged in echelon fashion, that is to board-like articles from a board-treating instrusay, one board ahead of the other, whereafter mentality in which Poards are simultaneously the most advanced board is turned over mechanconveyed at a mummy of superposed levels t0 ically, other boards piled on top of it, and a stack a single horizontal, conveyor which comprises an eventuated, which stack is then transversely equaf1n}1{nber of dfscharg?'conveyors whPse ends moved to a point f delivery are mdlvldually aligned with the respect ve levels The apparatus may be constructed of any suitof Sam mstmmentahtyi some, of F discharge able material, but preferably is made from iron conveyors bemg P mchned, some level or steel, and the rollers are preferably also made f some upwardly mchned' the lowest conveYor of metallic material, although if desired they bemg the longest and the other conveyors may be made of wood or plastics. Those rolls of Shorter, l g and arranged so that 17116.11 or rollers which exert initial motivating force ends overhe PW Q P means on upon the boards may, if desired, be covered with conyeyors for posmvely lmpeumg the P F a material having a greater coeffictent of trim articles thereon whereby all the articles will tion, such for example as soft rubber or felt, this eventually reach and be conveyed on the lower" l e H most conveyor; feed-rolls at the receiving end of sgi fi fi g g g deslmbl m caQe of the pmch 6 all the conveyors; individual driving means for Obvious modifications of the present invention said feed rolls; and means for selectively operat- 0 re a'de in ithi th sco mg Said driving means are t be g 1 d as com g w n 6 P8 5. A discharge apparatus for transferring of my invention, and the exact number of decks in the takemfi sections 13 and C, and the com boards from a multl-level drier to a horizontal veyor sectionD are of course subject to variation, ccfnveyor whlch wmpnses -Q F Set of and while eight such superposed conveyors have dlscharge'conveyors Whose recelvmg P h been shown, it will be self-evident that the invenaligned with the respective levels of Said f tion is not limited thereto, but comprehends such the upp m t f d d s h nv y rs l ms pparatus and methods as may be carried out downwardly inclined, the adjacent series of diswithin the scope and purview of the hereunto charge-conveyors being horizontal and the lowerthruster is under the control of an operator staporting conveyor.

'7. Method of stacking board-like articles which have been treated at a plurality of superposed levels in a board-treating instrumentality which comprises -cascading said articles from the respective levels progressivelyto a single level; conveying said articles horizontally in aligned position; accelerating the travel of said articles relatively to each other; turning :overone'of said articles with its upper side down; stacking a plurality of unturned articles *on top of the turned-over one to eventuate a stack; and conveying said stack to a point of delivery.

8. A handling system for selectively transferring board-like articles from a plurality of superposed levels to a single substantially horizontal level which comprises a plurality of superposed conveyors having their receiving ends individually aligned with said superposed levels, the uppermost of said conveyors being the shortest while those below said uppermost conveyor are progressively longer, the longest being substantially horizontal, and

the substantially horizontal level.

9. A discharge device for a drier on which :board-like-articles are dried while progressing on a plurality-of superposed levels which comprises a plurality ofsuperposed roller conveyors having their receiving ends in alignment with the reof the conveyor successively lower conveyors being the longest being suhstan- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,749,262 Roark Mar. 4, 1930 1,869,210 Moore July 26, 1932 

